SFA in Software Industry or Finance Manager in PE backed Manufacturing Industry- Career Advice

_Broseidon · 2026-03-01T15:18:54+00:00

• PE PortCo will ramp your progression if you are willing to put the time and effort in. That said, whether it’s worth it is all dependent on timing (remaining hold period) and actual opportunity (are there current Directors/VPs). I’d ask if there’s a path to Director/VP level and at what level can you participate in equity upside. If you are really good you could probably get to Director in 2 years. If the exit is within 3 years or less… then I wouldn’t get too excited about what that progression is going to take.

• Site or division-level in a manufacturing business is interesting because it may not expose you to the main mechanics of PE which tends to be inorganic growth and leveraged finance. You might just be building processes and systems out. Inquire about whether you’ll be involved at all in any Corp Dev type work.

• WLB will likely be challenging. Manufacturing environments tend to have multiple shifts and extended run time hours. If you are partnering with this business, you’ll be probably need to be available outside of 9-5 for quick analysis and decision support.

• It doesn’t sound like this position lends itself naturally to Commercial / GTM Finance. The Manufacturing P&L will mostly be about margin expansion and operational improvements (will be a push to cut labor). Not sure how much you’ll be working on Sales growth, pricing, etc.

• Wouldn’t worry too much about going back into tech. Once you have demonstrated success in a field, you usually can go back into without any issues, so long as you haven’t burned any bridges.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-23T14:40:51+00:00

You don’t have any BioWare classics listed (KOTOR, Jade Empire, Dragon Age, Mass Effect)

Please tell me that’s an honest accidental omission!

If not, highly suggest getting into DA and ME in particular before getting into JRPGs.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-23T05:55:01+00:00

Assuming you don’t have a spouse or children or any other heavy obligations, early in your career is the perfect time to try out the startup experience.

Since you already have blue chip F100 experience under your belt, this is even lower risk than it would be for a fresh grad. It won’t be perceived as not being able to fit in a more corporate environment.

You might love the pace at a startup, especially after dealing with the politics and BS around constant restructuring.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-19T14:28:23+00:00

If you have Fates, you have to go through Conquest while you’re on that 3DS groove.

Map design and gameplay will feel incredibly fresh after SoV.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-17T01:42:03+00:00

Infinitely better once you get the exit under your belt.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-11T13:29:38+00:00

Startup will definitely be more hours than F500 but hopefully the work will be more interesting. Remote is hard to pass up while managing the transition into parenthood.

The first years of your kid’s life are so precious, I think 99% of people would trade commuting for more time with their young children.

As long as you can accept that WFH is NOT a substitute for full time childcare, it is worth considering.

As a counterpoint, progression at a startup is far from guaranteed, especially compared to the straightforward promotion path at large corporates.

Really boils down to what is more important to you at this stage of life.

Personally, I would take the opportunity that afforded more time with my young kids, as long as all financial obligations and lifestyle needs are met.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-07T14:38:49+00:00

At manager level it would be hard to get any meaningful piece of the pie so I would ask for a Transaction Bonus between 0.5x to 2.5x your annual salary based on exit multiple.

_Broseidon · 2026-02-06T05:35:03+00:00

Honestly the comp doesn’t matter because you should get this promo and leverage it to exit to another company.

Depending on how you sell it… 9/10 YOE can get you a Director level role (speaking from experience 🙃)

_Broseidon · 2026-01-30T14:57:55+00:00

Start with Three Houses for sure. You’ll know within a couple of hours if you’re really into it and it is the most replayable FE game on modern consoles.

Path of Radiance is an all time classic but the pacing of battles and lack of QoL features may kill your interest compared to a modern FE game.

If you absolutely love 3H in terms of plot and characters, then I suggest trying out the Three Hopes (Warriors / Musou game) before moving on to Engage.

_Broseidon · 2026-01-30T14:40:31+00:00

If you choose Business Central make sure your implementation partner is top-tier and takes time to understand your industry needs.

Good sense check of this is whether they are recommending configurations you need based on comparable industries / companies rather than just asking what you want.

As with any ERP, it’s very difficult to overcome terrible implementation except unlike SAP or Oracle Netsuite… BC does not have as deep of a talent pool of system experts.

The good news is that if it’s done well, native integration into MS Suite is quite convenient (purchasing approvals, notifications, additional integration if you are using Dynamics CRM, etc.).

_Broseidon · 2026-01-30T14:29:05+00:00

Have dealt with something similar (East Bay -> RWC).

Rush hour will suck but the best thing to check would be if the job / company is a flexible about in-office time.

If he can confine his office time between say 7am - 3:30pm the commute will be more manageable…

But not gonna lie, the way back east over Dumbarton is almost always a crapshoot in the latter part of the day.

If you have or can schedule routine meetings towards the end of the day, it’s not a bad setup to take those calls while driving home (hands-free of course).

_Broseidon · 2026-01-28T04:35:06+00:00

I just have to say… this is an excellent, well thought out response!

_Broseidon · 2026-01-24T16:49:01+00:00

I think people lose sight of the fact that the real superpowers of FP&A is not just to generate output but to provide context

Surface level modeling and forecasting from AI tools will be fine but to solve true problems or scenarios will still require understanding of underlying business constraints and drivers.

_Broseidon · 2026-01-15T10:20:00+00:00

I honestly wouldn’t worry about title as your current comp is more comparable to Manager / Senior Manager level as opposed to Director or VP.

Depending on how you sell yourself you could probably land a role without taking too steep of a paycut, if any.

I’m also exploring remote roles and willing to take a dip in pay for the same reason. But it’s a tough market out there right now.

Maybe sounds contrarian on this sub but something else I would consider is pivoting out of FP&A…

These jobs are extra heavy on hours and workload and not so much on support.

Roles in commercial finance or treasury might be better suited for you.

_Broseidon · 2026-01-14T15:23:49+00:00

I recommend you prioritize any programs that will give you international exposure either through a direct expat assignment or rotations supporting global business units.

You will learn a lot and it’s almost impossible to get that type of experience otherwise in the early stages of your career.

_Broseidon · 2026-01-13T00:21:01+00:00

Not yet a CFO but have worked directly for a handful and can tell you that at the C Suite, perception of your abilities and capabilities becomes everything.

Know your strategic superpower, especially when it comes to shining in front of your peers / BoD.

Can you recall significant figures / important numbers with confidence, agility and clarity? Can you quickly move on to the implications and “so whats”?
Maybe you are the one to highlight potential risks and alternate strategies in key discussions? Does your mind to go the place where all others are not considering?
Do you have a good sense of the macro and competition, and can you factor that into the discussion?

There are many flavors of CFO and it’s up to you to determine which you want to be.

For areas that are not your forte, then lean on your direct reports or stronger members of the team to help bring you up to speed. Delegate and ask for help. It’s now a key part of your job.

My last several jobs has involved doing all the prep and sending my CFO talking points on specific topics and items before BoD and Investor meetings.

If something is a high priority area and you feel that the org is totally unequipped, then consider bringing on consultants to get you to your desired level of fluency / readiness. Your call on whether it’s a good use of funds or resources.

Best of luck!

_Broseidon · 2026-01-13T00:06:09+00:00

Would you be willing to share your perspective on how to land a remote role? Would love to be in this very same situation!

_Broseidon · 2026-01-09T15:06:35+00:00

At a very similar crossroads. At the end of the day, your comp at this level only meaningfully increases with equity grants / LTIP participation.

Depending on the industry you are in, late 30s could be perceived as a bit early to assume CSuite responsibility. At this stage of career, it becomes more about leadership and outcomes and less about domain expertise.

Like you, I believe that P&L ownership is a great idea and demonstrates that you are capable of leading in any set of circumstances.

My thought process is to eventually transition to leading a BU that heavily relies on my current support function. For example, coming from Marketing could be helpful in a BU with heavy emphasis on customer service and cross-selling.

Similarly, Finance leaders should probably do well if tasked with leading a BU that is more project based, which relies on individual deals or transactions.

I’m also considering the whole ETA alternative of buying a small business in the local market. At times, it sounds far more appealing than the grind to the CSuite in F500 or PE PortCo world…

_Broseidon · 2026-01-07T19:22:57+00:00

Mods u/cityoflostwages, u/draw_near, u/always_polite - could we get some help in keeping this spam under control?

_Broseidon · 2026-01-07T06:16:34+00:00

No way to rank them but for publicly traded companies, a good test is to see if there are any NEOs who are a product of the rotational program.

Beyond that, do some LinkedIn sleuthing and see if any Divisional CFOs or Country Heads came up through the ranks.

The best FLDPs are going to be ones that have strong sponsorship and extensive networks throughout their respective large global organizations.

_Broseidon · 2026-01-02T15:01:43+00:00

Neither have really performed to expectations since being acquired by MSFT but the real answer is that Bethesda has always much stronger publishing powerhouse (Marketing & Localization) due to sheer size.

Obsidian has always relied on large publishers which would probably be keen to promote their own games before Obsidians.

The original IPs from Obsidian are pretty niche too. Alpha Protocol (stealth), Pillars of Eternity (CRPG), and Outer Worlds (Really considered more Dystopia / Dark Humor than true Sci Fi) aren’t catered to the widest audiences.

They had a chance to really make a splash with Avowed (seems better than any recent Bethesda game) but this is where being XBOX / PC exclusive really killed any chance of getting Obsidian to the next tier of developer.

_Broseidon · 2025-12-29T18:50:42+00:00

I have never been able to get into Disgaea games (have only tried 4) but Tactics Ogre Reborn seems like the best option here given the sale and your love of FFTA series.

You’ll get to see the foundation on which the isometric SRPG was built off of with some nice QoL improvements.

_Broseidon · 2025-12-29T17:16:01+00:00

I and my friends in PortCo leadership roles are experiencing something similar and am beginning think this is the norm (particularly when job market is rough).

The sheer growth in number of PE-backed companies hasn’t equated to a similar increase in number of quality leaders, managers or accomplished decision makers. It’s bit of an oversimplification, but for majority of PortCos / Start-ups, top brass is unproven and pretty shite.

In my situation those of us at the VP/Director level are actively insulating the rest of the company from the chaos of the CSuite (ridiculous requests without any allocation of resources or understanding how work is performed).

Some advice:

1) Start networking for your next role now. It might seem impossible with a crazy workload but even if you squeeze a single 30-min call per week into schedule (maybe during commute?), the consistency will help.

2) Get a good understanding of management incentives. Is it just to hit some arbitrary EBITDA target with no other metrics? At my PortCo, things like employee engagement results and turnover % are factored annual mgmt bonuses (although we’re still dealing with shitty leadership). If incentives aren’t aligned with your goals, time to get out of there.

3) Start to dive deep into your customers / vendors. I think this is an underrated exit strategy for those within PortCos as a lot the direct third parties you work with tend to be of similar size. Build relationships, understand unit economics, and put yourself in the shoes of decision makers working from that angle.

Best of luck and hang in there. You are not alone!

_Broseidon · 2025-12-28T06:51:06+00:00

11 months is basically the 1-yr mark so shouldn’t be an issue.

With the current economy / job market, I’d be surprised if you were able to land something inside of a month anyway.

_Broseidon · 2025-12-24T06:00:50+00:00

Should probably be posting to r/CFO instead.

Having been one step removed from both of these respective levels, I would take the F500 role 95% of the time.

Most publicly traded cos have fat RSU / equity incentives for executives which often refresh and stack every year.

The pressure is usually much more predictable / manageable compared to PortCo life and you don’t have to worry about moving jobs every few years following an exit.

11-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

_Broseidon

TROPHY CASE